2015 PRESENTATIONS

Speaking Skills for Writers: The only thing most people fear more than death is public speaking. In this interactive workshop, you’ll learn how the greatest speakers in the world prepare, secrets for keeping calm and staying focused, and have the opportunity to practice in a safe environment. Bring a 3-4 sentence “introduction” for yourself, and a paragraph or two from your novel, essay, or poem. This workshop is for fiction and non-fiction writers. Presented by Linda Angér. WORKSHOP

Poetry for Publication:Navigating the Seas of Submissions – You’ve written a raft of poems or short stories – but now what? Where should you send them? Which works should you submit to which publications? How do you keep track of multiple submissions? How do you make your submissions stand out in a flotilla of other writers’ work? As a published poet and the poetry editor for the Museum of Americana, an online literary journal that has netted a Best of the Net poem within its first three years, Karrie Waarala is familiar with all of these questions and more. Join her for tips, suggestions, and Q&A on navigating the sometimes overwhelming submission process. Presented by Karrie Waarala. LECTURE

I Have a Website, Now What? Many writers have a website, but what to do with it can be a little overwhelming. A stagnant website can be worse than not having one at all. We’ll discuss posting frequency, content creation, and the importance of proper images. We’ll also touch on how to merge your website with your social media efforts for seamless branding and less work. This class is for fiction and non-fiction writers. Presented by Dani Schnakenberg. LECTURE

Personal Branding for Writers: Branding can make the difference between writing for a hobby and a writing career. A brand is more than a logo; it’s the core of communication between you and your audience. We’ll talk about why it’s important, the pieces you need to create your personal brand, and how to use it to boost your writing and connect with your audience. This class is for fiction and non-fiction writers. Presented by Dani Schnakenberg. LECTURE

Children’s Book Publishing 101: Tips, Terms and Twists! A nuts and bolts session for children’s writers and writer/illustrators including standards for traditional publishing (formatting, word counts for categories, conventions, what’s pushy, what’s polite), how the industry works (role of agent vs. editor, publishing houses and what they offer, large house vs. small vs. regional), and how we get paid (advance, royalties). PowerPoint, group discussion, and Q & A. Presented by Carrie Pearson. LECTURE

Small Group Agent Pitches: By appointment only. Presented by Alice Speilburg. WORKSHOP

Joyful Writing Productivity: How to Start, Blast Through, and Finish Your Work! Inspiration exists, and is available to everyone nearly all the time. Under-productivity, procrastination, and blocks are solvable problems. The secret to achieving a state of near-perpetual inspiration (a.k.a., “flow”) is to switch from a scarcity to an abundance mindset, and also from a shame/blame mindset to one focused on problem-solving. In this workshop, we’ll tell you how to do that. We’ll not only delve deep into the heart of under-productivity so you can see, once and for all, how it’s happening; we’ll also present solutions–lots of them–that you can start using immediately to boost productivity and reduce stress. Presented by Hillary Rettig. LECTURE

Flash Fiction: Micro Fiction/Macro Income! Micro fiction, the haiku of the prose world, is one of the most popular contemporary writing forms with major literary magazines requesting submissions and sponsoring high paying contests. A micro fiction story can be read quickly, hence its title “smoke long” in China for stories that can be read in the time it takes to finish a cigarette. In this workshop students will learn the art of literary brevity through reading masterful examples of the form and writing micro fiction stories of 50-300 words for publication or as launching pads for larger works. In addition, we will discuss potential venues for workshop creations. Presented by Dorene O’Brien. WORKSHOP

History and Remembrance: Our Stories! Rediscover history and your story! How is your own history connected to the history of your country? What world events impacted your life? What part did war play in our parents’ lives and what does part does it play in our own? Who witnessed what and when? Who spoke out and who couldn’t and why? Where does memory take us and how can we capture moments of witness and weave in facts? We will do quick writing exercises, discuss patterns/techniques and some samples from the handout Writers (all genres) will leave this class with new strategies to create new work. Writers of all levels welcome. Presented by Zilka Joseph. WORKSHOP

Please Note: Three Presentations will be offered per Session. There will be Two Morning Sessions and Two Afternoon Session. A total of Four Sessions will offer Twelve Presentations. Presentations for the Rochester Writers’ Conference will consist of Lectures (classroom style), Workshops (hands-on lecture) and Panel Discussions (Q&A). Rochester Writers reserves the right to add, subtract, or substitute any of the presentations and speakers.